Uzumaki: a Memoir
by RaitonNoKitsune
Summary: Umi, promise me that one day, years from now, when Kushina is old enough to understand what happened tonight, you will come back and reestablish the Whirlpool Country.' 'I...' 'Please! As a last request from your father.'            Minato x Kushina


Raiton-Hey. This is my first fiction, so be nice. I know how the drill goes, I'm not new. I just havn't got around to actually writing yet, but iv'e had this plot bunny ever since Naruto's heiritage was revealed in chapter 357. But I'm not going to say too much, otherwise I'll be giving away the whole plot, which has been littered with mysteries, might I say. Unlike most fics, everything in this has been structured already and everything happens for a reason. Basically, it's the tale of Kushina Uzumaki's past and why she winded up in Konoha, and how Naruto came to be. It may take me a while to write though, because I'm in my SATS year in year nine now (I live in England, if you're confused) which are important tests, so I've got many apeice of homework. I apologize for that in advance.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.

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The fire raged, it's highest flick dancing in the destruction and evaporating in smoke with a red and orange spectrum; it's glow cascaded the sky, blocking out all natural light with a vast, thick cloud of smoke and soot. More shrill cries of terror erupted from the settlement in union with a mighty roar of debris smouldering to the floor, mercilessly landing on the villagers below. Man, woman or child; none were spared. The remaining women grabbed their children in swift motions, there faces hot and gaunt from the losing battle, attempted to flee from the smouldering wreck, whilst some men chose to fight the intruders, but many also chose to follow the women's example and run. A man in regal looking robes ran headfirst into the catastrophe, flawlessly dodging combusting objects that rained from the bloodlust sky, whilst effortlessly creating multiple complicated hand signs. his greying red hair seemed almost camouflaged by the incinerated surroundings. 

"Please! All Shinobi must stay and fight! Fight for the village! There's still-"

"There's no hope, Uzumaki-sama! The Mist are too strong for us, you must evacuate everyone, now!" A hysterical looking woman clutching a wailing baby to her chest in one arm and grasping a young boy's wrist in another screeched angrily, her long black locks clinging to her pretty face that was now full of sweat and grime, her eyes so large and dilated, so full of fear that they seemed to bore right through him. And with that, she turned to flee once more.

"No, Toskha! You must stay here, it's safer! Pl-" The aged man's plea to the woman were immediately silenced when another great roar erupted from the fire, and more screams were launched into the sky as bodies of men, women and children flew in all directions. Immediately he started to run once more into the debris, making even more hand signs as he passed various bodies, dead or alive, very few men still fighting, and hastily dodging those mindlessly running from the village. Pain tore at his heart as he glanced around at these surroundings, but he knew he did not have time to boycott his plan to help every single one of them.

"Otou-san! Otou-san, please wait!" A very familiar voice called out to him. He immediately obeyed and stopped in his tracks, aimlessly searching for the voice, frantic with worry. But he didn't need to; A young woman with short, mouse-brown hair ran straight at him through the flame and soot clouding his vision, clutching a young girl no older than 7 by the wrist. Her hair was long and deep red of her grandfather's hue, but he had to blink twice to get the image that it had caught the flames out of his head. She stopped dead in front of him, her gaunt face also grimy and sweaty, but her deep blue eyes were calm, but her brows were contacted together in fear. He scanned his daughter's face, and then realization struck him.

"Otou-san, what shall we do? We're being whittled down one by one, and many innocent people are dying." she stated. Her Hi-Ate, engraved with a spiral, was lopsided on her forehead and it seemed almost completely mutilated, like a piece of scrap metal clinging to a rag. He stared at this and sighed, and contracted his eyebrows in thought. She was right, they were fighting a losing battle at his hands. The Mist is in one of the Five Great Nations, of course they were going to be stronger. What was he thinking, sending the Shinobi to their deathbed and keeping the villagers trapped inside a war zone? And even when it's over, the survivors will think of him as a bad leader and rebel against him anyway. That is, if there would be anything left of the village. He looked down at his grandchild, her usually smiling face was pushed into a wobbly frown, all the other features following it's example. Her clothes were dirty and torn, tears pulsing down her rosy cheeks. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate. There was only one thing left to do. He grabbed his daughter by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes, looking at his own passion, determination reflected in them.

"Umi-chan, Gather up every living, but not critically injured person there is left in this village and _get them out of here_, within 2 hours,_ fast_. Take them to our nearest ally of the Five Great Nations, the Fire country, and go the hidden village of Konohagakure, and explain our situation to the Hokage there. You will be safe there. You have one hour to get them and reach the other side of a bordering country, _any_ country, but you _must_ journey to the fire country. You understand?" She looked straight back at him, understanding his instructions, something else niggled at her.

"But what about you? What will you do?" He broke his gaze in guilt, but he knew he couldn't lie to her, not after what he'd said. Her eyes started to glaze up, as she too, understood what he was going to do.

"I'm afraid there's only one thing for me to do now, after what I've done to this village. I couldn't live with myself if I'd escaped and left it to burn, and I'm sure the other villagers wouldn't either. No, I'm afraid I'm going to have to use-" Suddenly Umi's eyes grew wide, just as Toskha's were, and she broke from the man's grasp at once in horror.

"_No_! No, you can't! _Please_, Otou-san, don't, you-"

"No, listen Umi! You wouldn't understand; and there's no time to explain!" Umi's eyes immediately softened as she broke their gaze, a single tear splattered on the murky ground. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath, and lifted a singe finger under her chin to maintain eye contact once more, as he looked apologetically into her face. "Umi, we're wasting time. More lives are being sacrificed as we speak. Umi, promise me that one day, years from now, when Kushina is old enough to understand what happened tonight, you will come back and re-establish the Whirlpool Country." He requested, grasping her hands in his.

"I-I-"

"Promise me, as a last request from your father!" Umi looked up into his eyes, that were full of passion to the brim. She swallowed hard and nodded, not entirely sure what she was agreeing to; everything seemed to whirl around in her mind like a whirlpool itself. But the words 'Last request from your Father' was enough to agree. He smiled, and wiped away another rouge tear from her face. "Remember, Shinobi musn't show their feelings." He said, giving her one last smile. She smiled weakly and nodded, and hauling the young child onto her back, she gathered chakra in her legs and sped off around the once familiar surroundings that were now smouldered to the brim. The man took one last deep breath, and continued to run into the massacre, whipping out a scroll and chanting indecipherable words and making various complicated hand signs at impeccable pace.

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Dawn had drawn close now; Umi had found at least 30 survivors that were willing to leave and they headed off stealthily through the back of the village, over the high walls surrounding the settlement. Many took one last glance at their home, at the memories they had made, the possessions that had gone up in smoke, and those loved ones they were leaving behind, many starting to cry that weren't already from the emotional trauma. But Umi held herself together, remembering her father's last words to her, and she didn't want to disappoint him. She had no time to think, she had to get those people out fast, before he used the jutsu, otherwise they would all die. Once they had all made it over the wall, Umi hoisted herself over and landed gracefully on the other side, still clutching Kushina on her back, whose silent tears could be felt soaking through her clothes. She brought herself up to her full height and did a quick headcount of the people standing in front of her, blocking out the screaming and banging erupting inside of the village, telling herself the only ones left behind are on the brink of death or refused to leave, those who wanted to fight for their home until their last breath. She understood, and would probably have done the same if her father hadn't entrusted her with this. She wanted more than anything to fight next to her father for her home. But she had other priorities, especially her daughter, and she came first now. She looked into every one of the small crowd's faces as she addressed them promptly.

"Everyone, I have no time to explain what's happening and what we're going to do here, but we must journey swiftly to the closest bordering country. As soon as we reach the other side, then I will explain, but for now we must move quickly in a group. Those who stop will be left behind as we do not have time for a break. Once we reach the next country, we will decide our actions as a group, but we cannot have a discussion as long as we remain in the Whirlpool country. Understand?" She said, trying to make it as brief as she could with a good amount of understanding. Many people nodded, some muttered to each other, whether the majority were relieved or very begrudgingly agreeing, she wasn't sure but it didn't matter; they needed to leave.

Umi took up the lead, whilst another jonin volunteered to take up the rear and they started to jump swiftly through the trees, as this was there best place not to be seen. The Shinobi that were travelling with her concealed their Chakra flow and had taken villagers unable to jump from tree to tree onto their back. Most had taken off their Hi-Ate so they wouldn't be identified, but others still overcome with shock refused, claiming it was a tribute to their home and those who had lost their lives fighting for it. Umi chose not to argue and accept it; it wasn't the place nor time to take up a lengthy discussion of tactics.

And so they travelled silently, Umi refusing to give in or look back, even at times when her lungs or muscles shrieked in pain, she pushed herself for the sake of the villagers, the sake of her father, whose people he had risen on a podium throughout his career.

* * *

She could see it approaching: the other side of the border, and the horizon rising quickly behind it. With one final push, her body ripped in pain as she launched herself over the other side and throwing herself onto the soft, mossy ground below. Many exhausted faces followed, taking the same gestures and panting heavily. With a journey that usually would have been carried out over two days with varied pace, covering it in less than an hour was seemingly impossible, and it was visible many people felt physically unable to carry on and fell behind. And the second the last person crossed the border, an impeccable force was thronged right at them-carrying debris and pulling up trees in its wake-moving at the speed of light without a sound. Many screamed and braced themselves, scrambling to their feet to try to avoid the great white sheath, but Umi held her child close and stroked her flame red without uttering a sound, for she knew what was going to happen; and without even being given any time to flinch, the sheath stopped dead on the borderline, the sheer force of the halt flinging the villagers on the other side far in random directions. Umi had cushioned Kushina's fall with her own body, and, even with pain searing through every crevice of her body, hauled herself up from the mossy ground to watch the events unfold inside the sheath as she thought it would. Everything left inside the other side of the divide shrivelled to dead that wasn't already; animals rotted to bone immediately and trees smouldered in smoky mist and evaporated, leaving little behind in their wake. The grass disappeared in wisps of blue flame, leaving dry, dead earth and mixtures of light coloured, smoky gases ascending to the sky. The deadened noise that swept over the whirlpool country seemed to have carried over the border, and adding to the many dampened, depressing thoughts swimming through Umi's mind. Dawn had broken; she threw herself down onto the floor next to the border and wept, forgetting her father's last words, each howl full of woe and despair.

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I hope you enjoyed, rewiews and constructive critisism are always appreciated. Flames will be ignored. Thank you for reading 


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